Ingham County Health Department, or ICHD, will be participating in an opioid lawsuit settlement targeted at funding prevention and treatment efforts during the opioid epidemic.
Proposed multibillion dollar settlements from a national lawsuit against Teva Pharmaceuticals, Allergan Pharmaceuticals, CVS Pharmacy and Walmart Pharmacy are being joined by the Michigan which could bring in $446 million to the state's municipal governments over 13 years, according to a press release from state Attorney General Dan Nessel’s office.
Municipal governments are eligible to participate if it is currently litigating against the defendants or has a population of 10,000 or more. Each Michigan county is eligible and Ingham County has signed on as a participant, ICHD public information officer Victoria Coykendall said.
“Ingham County Health Department is working with the County Board of Commissioners and our community partners to explore how we can best utilize funds that we receive from the state and this opioid settlement to have the biggest impact on our community,” Coykendall said.
The amount allocated to the state and its municipalities is partly dependent on the amount of participation of local governments, according to the statement.
“Spending priority would be placed on treatment and prevention,” the release read.
Representatives from the city of Lansing and East Lansing were not available for comment at time of publication.
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